


Concerning Tide Pools

by Sachiela



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Child!Lance, Fluff, Gen, Just kids having fun on a beach, Kidfic, child!Keith, chklanceexchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 09:58:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachiela/pseuds/Sachiela
Summary: For matteodraws on Tumblr for the CHKlanceExchange, who asked for "Kid klance (5-8): Them just hanging out, the weather is nice, war far from them. Safe and happy."While on vacation with his father, Keith is poking around in a tide pool when a local boy comes over to him to chat and explore the water together.





	Concerning Tide Pools

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for matteodraws for the Childhood Klance Exchange. I hope they enjoy it!

“Keith, don’t wander out of sight, okay?”  
  
“I won’t, Dad,” Keith replies, stepping closer to the tide pool. He’d been wanting to see one up close since they got here and this is finally his chance.

Crouching down, he examines the small pool of water only occasionally getting filled by the waves of the ocean, stirring things up just enough that the fish kept darting around, but not too much that it makes it impossible to see anything. As the water settles, he can see so many more bright colors than he could have imagined. Pink and purple anemones, orange starfish, even small blue and yellow fish. It’s practically a rainbow underneath the water.

He hears someone approaching on the sand and rocks and thinks they were just passing by, but the steps stop next to him and he looks up to see a boy about his age, with much darker skin and the brightest blue eyes he’s ever seen on anyone. He’s grinning down at Keith in a way that initially makes Keith feel defensive, but when he doesn’t do or say anything to tease him, he figures this boy is just overly-friendly.

The boy crouches down next to him and trails his fingers in the water, giggling when one of the anemones sucks in all it’s finger-like tentacles. “I’m Lance. You’re a visitor around here, right?”

Keith nods, unable to stop himself from smiling at the anemone himself. It’s kinda cool. “Yeah, my dad and I are here on vacation. I’m Keith.”  
  
“If you’re here on vacation, you should be trying to tan!” Lance says, moving to sit cross-legged on the rocks. “At least, that’s what my older sister always says.”

He gestures to Keith’s shirt and the pale boy frowns. “I hafta wear it or I’ll get a bad sunburn. I don’t think I’ve ever tanned.”

Lance winces in sympathy for a moment before the smile is back on his face. Keith is starting to think that’s just his default expression. “Sunburns are the worst, yeah. Guess it is better to stay covered up, then. Oh, but if you’re just here for a short time, make sure you try the garlic knots on the pier, okay? They’re the _best_.”

“Okay,” Keith agrees, not sure what else to do. He’s not really used to other kids coming over and talking to him, finding it easier to stay quiet and out of the way, since a lot of the kids back home mock him for not having a mom. But he doesn’t think Lance is really one to tease like that. Even only knowing him for a few moments, he can tell that the other kid is a lot nicer than anyone back home. He didn’t even tease him about getting sunburned.

Something moving in the water catches Keith’s eye and he frowns. That doesn’t look right. Reaching in slowly, he lifts up a starfish that only has four full legs and a little stump of one for the fifth. “It’s hurt.”

“Huh?” Lance looks up and shakes his head when he sees what Keith is holding. “Oh, no, that’s fine. Sea stars can grow their legs back if they lose one. It’ll be fine.”

Happy to hear that it’ll be fine, Keith puts it back in the water where he found it, watching it slowly move off on its own. “You call them sea stars?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? They look like stars, but in the ocean. They don’t exactly look like fish, right?”

He does have a point, Keith supposes. “Oh, there’s one with a ton of legs!” He doesn’t grab this one, because it just looks too weird, but he leans as close as he can to count. It’s tricky, because there are some randomly overlapping, but he gets eleven more than once, so that must be it. “Eleven?”

Lance shrugs, leaning in close next to him. “I dunno. I see some around here with that many legs once in awhile, but I dunno why. Oh!” There’s a shiny fish that darts by and Lance shoots a hand into the water, trying to catch it.

Of course, the fish is far too fast and slippery for a kid to grab, but the splashes hit Keith as Lance tries and fails and he can’t help but laugh. The other boy looks so _determined_ for something so small. “Why do you want to catch that one so badly?”

“My brother called it a wish fish once,” Lance says, sighing as he lifts his hand out of the water again. He’s managed to stir up all kinds of sand while going for the fish and the water is completely clouded. “It’s probably just a trick, but he said if you catch one and make a wish and then let it go, it’ll take your wish out to the ocean where someone might be able to grant it. Even if it might not work, it’d still be cool to catch something that fast, right?”

Keith nods. It would be cool. He kinda wishes he’d gotten a better look at the fish so he could try if he sees it later. Silver and fast isn’t very specific when it comes to fish, after all.

Lance chatters a bit more as the dirt slowly settles in the tide pool, telling Keith about his whole family, his multiple siblings (he’s shocked to learn that Keith is an only child) and all the various other family members here and in parts of the United States. He trails off after a bit, staring at something in the water. Keith tries to guess what he’s looking at, now that the sand has settled, but there’s no silver fish that he can see.

Lighting fast, Lance’s hand darts into the water and comes up a moment later holding a flat disc. He swishes it in the surface of the water to clean it off and seems to grow more excited once it’s clean.

“What is it?”

“It’s a sand dollar. They usually are alive and eat particles in the water, but this one is all smooth and white. If it was still alive and had something in there, it’d be fuzzy and purple. So this is a safe shell to take home. And it’s really rare to find one whole like this. They can break easy.”

Keith studies the shell and runs a finger over it at Lance’s insistence. It’s not perfectly smooth like he would have thought, but the texture is a soothing bumpy feeling. “It’s really cool.”

“Why don’t you take it? I have a ton of shells at home already. And I’m always out here all summer. I can find another one.”

“Are you sure?” Keith is surprised. Lance found it, why wouldn’t he keep it?

Lance smiles and puts the sand dollar in Keith’s hand. “Yeah! You can keep it as a sou...souvi… Something to remember this place by.”

“A souvenir?”

“Yeah, that!”

Keith stares down at the shell in his hand with wide eyes. No one’s ever given him anything like this before. He’s gotten presents, but they’ve always been clothes or useful things. He wants to give something to Lance in return, to thank him for even just hanging out and talking with him for a bit, maybe something to actually remember _him_ by? But what could he give? Not another shell or something, that wouldn’t mean anything to Lance. And it would likely just get lost with all the other shells he mentioned having at home.

He pats the pocket of his trunks in frustration, wondering if he even has _anything_ in them when he feels the narrow lump. Dare he? It would definitely be unique and something that would tie to him instead of just the beach. But...could he give that up? He looks up at Lance’s wide smile and decides that yeah, he can. For the person that chose to join him without any other intention than someone to talk to, he can.

Pulling the small keychain out of his pocket, Keith stares at it for just a moment. The wood is worn a little smoother around the edges and where his name is carved in from how often he’s fiddled with it, but the metal pieces are still in perfect condition. He’s made sure of that. He holds out the small pocket knife keychain to Lance.

“For me?”

Keith nods. “Yeah, to...remember today?” It’s nothing all that special that he can’t replace once he’s gone home, just from one of the knickknack shops from near his home, but it has a lot of sentimental value, which he hopes is enough.

It seems to be, from how Lance grins, turning it over and examining all the little pieces it has. “Cool! I’ll definitely remember today. It’s even got your name on it!”

“Cool,” Keith agrees with a small smile. He’s so happy that he was able to find something to give Lance in return, if just to see how wide that smile can get.

“Keith, you ready to go? It’s about dinnertime,” his dad calls. Keith looks over at his dad with a small frown. He knew the day was going to end eventually, but couldn’t it have lasted just a little longer? “Your nose is already turning a bit pink there, little man. We should probably get you out of the sun anyway.”

Rubbing his nose, Keith frowns at the dry feeling of his skin. Yeah, his dad is probably right. He looks over at Lance again, bottom lip sticking out slightly. He doesn’t want to say good-bye.  
  
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Lance says, standing up and brushing some sand off his legs. “My mama’s probably going to come get me soon, too, for dinner. So I need to go as well. Maybe we’ll see each other here tomorrow, right? Or if not, we both have something to remember today by.”

It’s true, even if Keith still isn’t happy about it. But he holds up the sand dollar again and feels his mood lifting. “Okay. Hopefully see you tomorrow, Lance.”

“See you!” Lance runs off, leaving almost as suddenly as he arrived. Keith walks over to his dad, looking between the boy and the shell. Maybe his dad has a box he can put it in to keep it safe, to keep both it and the memory whole.

~End~


End file.
